Extended call handling functionality using multi-network simulcasting

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus supporting the handling of calls using simulcasting of multimedia information via a broadband access gateway are disclosed. A broadband access gateway supporting both a personal area network and a broadband network may receive multimedia information simultaneously exchanged by an associated access device via a wide area network. The broadband access gateway may store the received multimedia information locally, within the broadband access gateway, or may communicate the multimedia information to storage accessible from the broadband access gateway. The broadband access gateway may cause a user of the access device to be notified of the availability of multimedia information for a recorded call, and may communicate the multimedia information to the access device for playback. A user may be notified if storage and bandwidth for the recording of a call is not available.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application makes reference to, claims priority to, andclaims the benefit of the following United States Provisional PatentApplications, the complete subject matter of each of which is herebyincorporated herein by reference, in its entirety.

Ser. Attorney Date No. Docket No. Title Filed 60/591, 15884US01 Methodand System for Handoff Jul. 28, 2004 735 BP3837 Through Simulcasting60/591, 15885US01 Method and System for Handling Jul. 28, 2004 847BP3838 Calls Through Simulcasting 60/591, 15886US01 Method and Systemfor Handling Jul. 28, 2004 844 BP3839 Multimedia Information ThroughSimulcasting 60/591, 15887US01 Method and System for Simul- Jul. 28,2004 841 BP3840 casting or Multicasting Multimedia Information in aBroadband Wired and/or Wireless LAN or Personal Area Network (PAN) Via aBroadband Access Gateway 60/591, 15888US01 Method and System forConsuming Jul. 28, 2004 845 BP3841 Simulcasted and Multicasted Contentin a PAN/WAN/WLAN Serviced by a Broadband Access Gateway 60/591,15889US01 Method and System for Handoff of Jul. 28, 2004 843 BP3842 aMultimedia Stream by Sniffing 60/591, 15890US01 Method and System forSniffing to Jul. 28, 2004 842 BP3843 Provide Association with a NewNetwork

The present application also makes reference to U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/021,294, entitled “Method And System For Extended NetworkAccess Services Advertising Via A Broadband Access Gateway”, filed Dec.23, 2004, the complete subject matter of which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference, in its entirety.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

[Not Applicable]

MICROFICHE/COPYRIGHT REFERENCE

[Not Applicable]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

One major common problem faced by cellular and landline serviceproviders is market competition. In today's climate of competitivemarkets, cellular service providers have found that one way for them togrow market share and defend their businesses is to be proactive andform alliances, and to partner with landline service providers. Inaddition, cellular service providers seek to differentiate their serviceofferings, and to capture the largest portion of market revenue bymeeting an ever increasing demand for access to a wide range of mediaforms such as MP3 encoded audio, still and video imaging, data, instantmessaging, and email. In a similar manner, the landline serviceproviders have found that to grow market share and ward off competition,they too must be proactive and form alliances, and to partner withcellular service providers. Support for broad economical access to theseconverging forms of communication is needed to enable unfettered marketgrowth, and to support the development and use of new handheld devicesneeded to provide increasing levels of mobile multimedia communicationfunctionality.

Although the formation of alliances and partnerships between cellularservice providers and landline service providers may help to ward offcompetition, such alliances and partnerships are faced with otherproblems. For example, the erection of cellular infrastructure such ascellular towers may be an expensive venture since this may requireacquisition of real estate, whether in the form of outright purchases orthrough leasing. Cellular infrastructure also requires the establishmentof one or more expensive backbone links to handle core network traffic.Another cellular-related problem is that the cellular signals do notpenetrate and propagate in buildings such as homes and offices verywell. This is especially true with the frequencies that are typicallyutilized in the United States, which may vary between 800 MHz and 1900MHz or 1.9 GHz.

Present day communication networks and, in particular, wirelessnetworks, are subject to varying conditions that may cause temporarylosses of signal, and can ultimately lead to loss of a call. Some of theparticipants on the call may not receive all of the informationexchanged by the parties during the call due to poor communicationconditions. There are also times when portions of a call are ofimportance and one or more parties wish to have a record of the call.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention asset forth in the remainder of the present application with reference tothe drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and method for handling calls in a wide area network usingsimulcasting of multimedia information via a broadband access gateway,substantially as shown in and/or described in connection with at leastone of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentinvention, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, willbe more fully understood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture of an exemplarycommunications system in which a representative embodiment of thepresent invention may be practiced.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram illustrating an exemplary communicationsystem that may support handling calls through simulcasting ofmultimedia information, in accordance with a representative embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a display showing an exemplary active call screenthat may be displayed by an access device that may correspond, forexample, to the access device of FIG. 2, in accordance with arepresentative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a display showing an exemplary error message screenthat may be displayed by an access device that may correspond, forexample, to the access device of FIG. 2, in accordance with arepresentative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a display showing an exemplary warning message screenthat may be displayed by an access device that may correspond, forexample, to the access device of FIG. 2, in accordance with arepresentative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a display showing an exemplary recorded calls screenthat may be displayed by an access device that may correspond to, forexample, the access device of FIG. 2, in accordance with arepresentative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a message exchange or “ping-pong” diagram illustratingexemplary messaging during a call by a user of an access device servedvia a wide area network, during which call recording by an associatedbroadband access gateway is enabled by the user, in accordance with arepresentative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an exemplary method supporting handling ofcalls through simulcasting of multimedia information, in accordance witha representative embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the present invention relate to communicationover a hybrid wired and wireless networks. More specifically, certainembodiments of the present invention relate to a method and system forcall handling through simulcasting of wireless network traffic for anactive subscriber from a wireless service provider servicing the activesubscriber to a broadband wired and/or a wireless LAN, and/or PAN usinga broadband access gateway.

An aspect of the present invention provides seamless merging of widearea networks (WANs), from any kind of wired and/or wireless wide areanetworks, to pockets of wired and/or wireless local area networks(WLANs) and personal area network (PANs), which may be located in homesor other environment such as an office or business. The merging of thesevarious types of networks enables transparent communication of all typesof media between access devices, which may be wired or wirelesslycoupled to one or more of these networks. Seamless communication may beprovided to access devices as they transition from one type of networkto another type of network.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture of an exemplarycommunications system in which a representative embodiment of thepresent invention may be practiced. Referring to FIG. 1, there is showna first location 102, a second location 104, a broadband access provider(BAP) 106, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, a transportnetwork 110, wireless service provider networks including a CDMA network112 and a GSM/EDGE/GPRS network 114, and access devices 122, 124, 126,and 128. The first location 102 comprises a gateway 118 having a modem116, a wireless interface(s) block 120, and the access devices 122, 124.The access devices 122, 124, 126, 128 may comprise, for example, amobile multimedia handset having a high level of functionality such as,for example, that of one or more of a digital video or still camera, aportable audio (MP3) player, a personal digital assistant, and a voicehandset. The access devices 122, 124, 126, 128 may be capable ofoperating using, for example, a personal area network and/or wirelesslocal area network compliant with, for example, Bluetooth, IEEE802.11a/b/g/n, and/or IEEE 802.15.3a ultra-wideband standards. Thesecond location 104 comprises a router 130 having a modem 132, and aplurality of wireless access devices. The plurality of wireless accessdevices at the second location 104 may comprise a personal computer (PC)138, a laptop 136 and a wireless personal digital assistant (PDA) 134. Aperipheral such as a digital camera 142 may be coupled to the personalcomputer 138. Other peripherals such as printers, digital scanners,speakers, and the like, which are not shown, may also be coupled to thepersonal computer 138 and/or laptop 136. The wireless interface block120 may comprise a plurality of interfaces such as a Bluetoothinterface, an IEEE 802.15.3a ultra-wideband interface, and anycombination of an IEEE 802.11a, b, g and/or n interface.

FIG. 1 also comprises an “other broadband access provider” block 144, an“other cellular/PCS service provider” block 146, a central control andmanagement block 148, and content provider 150. The “other broadbandaccess provider block 144” may be, for example, a cable, DSL, or othertype of broadband access provider. The central control and managementblock 148 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry and/or code that may beadapted to handle content delivery and security functions such asauthentication, validation, key or certificate management, andauthorization. The central control and management block 148 may also beadapted to handle provisioning, service management, and accounting. In arepresentative embodiment of the present invention, the central controland management block 148 may establish communications links with, forexample, the gateway 118, the broadband access provider 106, the otherbroadband access provider 144, the other cellular/PCS service provider146, the CDMA network 112, and the GSM/EDGE/GPRS network 114 usingactual or virtual connections.

The broadband access provider 106 may be, for example, a cable operator,telephone company, or satellite operator providing Internet access alongwith other communication services. In instances where BAP 106 is atelephone company, broadband service to locations 102, 104 may beprovided via DSL or other broadband access technology. Accordingly, themodems 116, 132 may be DSL modems. In instances where BAP 106 is a cableoperator, broadband service to locations 102, 104 may be provided viacable. Accordingly, the modems 116, 132 may be DOCSIS compliant or othertype of cable modem. Given the rapid decrease in the cost of leasedtelephone lines over the past decade or more, the connection to thelocation 102, 104 may also be T1 or T3 connections. For example, aswitch located at a central office (CO) (not shown) may be utilized tocouple a T1 or T3 connection between the second location 104 and thePSTN 108.

The gateway 118 may comprise an integrated DSL modem, cable modem orother high-speed modem that may be required for handling a connectionsuch as a T1 or T3 connection. Alternatively, the gateway 118 may becoupled to an external DSL modem, cable modem or other high-speed modemthat may be capable of handling connections such as a T1 or a T3connection. The gateway 118 may be adapted so that it has access toprotocol stack information that may be related to the GSM and/or CDMAnetworks 114, 112, respectively. The gateway 118 may also be adapted toprovide protocol support for communication with “other cellular/PCSservice provider” block 146.

Each of the CDMA and GSM/EDGE/GPRS networks 112, 114 may comprise aplurality of cell sites (a/k/a cellular towers) that are located ingeographical cells within each of the networks. Within the GSM/EDGE/GPRSnetwork 114, each of the cell sites such as, for example, cell site 114a may comprise a base transceiver station (BTS), and one or more basetransceiver stations (BTSs) may be coupled to wireless carrier centraloffice 114 b. The wireless carrier central office 114 b may comprise abase station controller/radio network controller (BSC/RNC) such asBSC/RNC 114 d. One or more base station controllers/radio networkcontrollers (BSCs/RNCs) may be coupled to the core network 114 e, thatcomprises a network edge switch called a mobile switching center (MSC),such as MSC 114 g, and a serving GPRS support node (SGSN)/packet dataserving node (PDSN) 114 f, of the GSM/EDGE/GPRS network 114. The mobileswitching center may be coupled to, for example, the PSTN 108 via thetransport network 110. As an access device moves out of range of a firstcell site to within range of a second cell site, the decrease signalpower received from the first cell site and the increase in signal powerreceived from the second cell site causes initiation of handoff of acall from the first cell site to the second cell site. In cases wherethere is no second cell site to handoff to, the call may be maintainedby the first cell site power until it is attenuated to a threshold whereit is no longer feasible to maintain the call. At the point where thepower reaches or falls below this threshold, the call may drop and anyrelated call resources may be relinquished. In a home and/or officeenvironment, it may be desirable to have a second network to which thecall may be handed off to.

As an illustration, a user may be on their way home and as the userapproaches their home, the signal may fall below a minimum signal powerthreshold that is required to maintain a call. However, instead ofdropping the call, the call may be handed off to, for example, a PAN ora wireless local area network (WLAN) that may be located within theuser's home or an unlicensed wireless access system that may be locatedin the user's home. For example, with reference to FIG. 1, as accessdevice 126 migrates from the vicinity of the serving cell site 114 a inGSM/EDGE/GPRS network 114 towards the wireless interface 120 in thefirst location 102, the call may be handed off from the cell site 114 aof the GSM/EDGE/GPRS network 114 to the wireless interface 120 coupledto the gateway (GW) 118 at the first location 102. Accordingly, insteadof the call being dropped, the call has been seamlessly handed off andis now being handled by the gateway 118 via the wireless interface 120.The resulting wireless data may then be communicated to theGSM/EDGE/GPRS network 114 via the broadband connection to the BAP 106which is connected to the broadband wireless local area networkcontroller (BWC) 114 c.

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, voice and datatraffic related to an existing active wireless call or connection for asubscriber may be routed from a serving wireless service provider suchas, for example, the GSM/EDGE/GPRS network 114 to a broadband wiredand/or a wireless WAN, LAN, and/or PAN using a broadband access gatewaysuch as, for example, the gateway 118, so as to provide seamlesshandoff. The broadband wired and/or a wireless LAN (WLAN), and/or PANusing the broadband access gateway may be located in a home, forexample. Simulcasting is the simultaneous broadcasting of the sameinformation over two different communication paths or channels.Accordingly, in a representative embodiment of the present invention,voice and data related traffic may be simulcasted to an access deviceand to the home broadband access gateway upon initiation of a call, inaddition to receipt of a call from a calling party. In the former casewhere a calling party places a call to a called party, related voice anddata for the called party and/or the calling party may be communicatedto the broadband access gateway 118. When the calling party is at home,the calling party may use their access device or some other accessdevice that is now serviced by the broadband access gateway 118 forfurther communication.

With reference to FIG. 1, the access device 126 that may be, forexample, a mobile multimedia handset, may initiate a call destined forthe access device 128 that may also be, for example, such as a mobilemultimedia handset. Once the call is setup and established, the mobileaccess device 126 may be serviced by a cell site such as, for example,the cell site 114 a located in the GSM/EDGE/GPRS network 114, while themobile access device 128 may be serviced by a cell site such as, forexample, the cell site 112 a located in the CDMA network 112. Whilecommunication is active between the mobile access devices 126 and 128,the mobile access device 126 may enter a region in which the receptionis poor and as a result, the user of the mobile access device 126 mayhave a desire to record the call so that it may be subsequentlyreplayed.

In one representative embodiment of the present invention, a soft orhard button may be utilized to activate recording of the conversationbetween users of the mobile access devices 126 and 128. The wirelesscarrier central office 114 b and/or the mobile wireless carrier centraloffice may be adapted to detect when the signal level has fallen below aspecified threshold and thereby cause the soft button for recording tobe displayed on the mobile access device. The wireless carrier centraloffice 114 b may also be adapted to determine whether there issufficient bandwidth and available space to handle recording of the callat the broadband access gateway 118. In another representativeembodiment of the present invention, the recording of the call may bestored at a location other than the broadband access gateway 118 suchas, for example, another access device in communication with thebroadband access gateway 118. If the wireless carrier central office 114b determines that there is insufficient bandwidth and/or memory forstoring the recorded conversation, then the wireless carrier centraloffice 114 b may send an indication to the mobile access device 126,that initiated the recording. In the case where there is a hard buttonavailable, the hard button may be depressed or otherwise enabled inorder to activate remote recording at the broadband access gateway 118.

The hard or soft button may also be utilized to terminate remoterecording of an existing call between the mobile access devices 126 and128. In this regard, the hard or soft button may be depressed in orderto terminate recording of an existing call.

There may be instances where a user of the mobile access device 126desires to record only a portion of an existing call. For example,during an existing call where the user of mobile access device 126 isthe calling party, the called party may want to give the calling party atelephone number and/or address. Immediately prior to receiving thetelephone number and/or address, the calling party may activate orinitiate remote recording of the conversation at the first location 102via the broadband access gateway 118 by depressing the soft or hard keyon the mobile access device 126. Once the called party has completeddisclosing the telephone number and/or address, the calling party maydeactivate recording by depressing the soft or hard key on the mobileaccess device 126. Once the mobile access device 126 is within operatingrange of the broadband access gateway 118, for example, when the user ofmobile access device 126 is at the first location 102, the user may playback the recording on the mobile access device 126, or on another accessdevice such as, for example, a personal computer coupled to thebroadband access gateway 118.

A user may be on a conference call with a plurality of other wirelessand wired users and may choose to store a portion of the conference callat the broadband access gateway 118, while at the same time attending toan urgent second call. In this regard, the conference call may still beactive and being recorded while the user tends to another call. Aftercompleting the urgent second call, the user may switch back to theteleconference and may continue to record the conference call at thebroadband access gateway 118, or terminate recording of the conferencecall using the soft or hard button.

In another representative embodiment of the present invention, wheneverrecorded media is stored at broadband access gateway such as, forexample, the broadband access gateway 118 of FIG. 1, a notification ofthe stored recorded media may be presented on a mobile access devicesuch as, for example, the mobile access device 126. Hence, a specialpop-up menu showing an identifier of one or more stored media may beautomatically displayed on the called mobile access device 126 wheneverthe mobile access device 126 is within an operating range of the gateway118. The popup menu may comprise playback keys that may be utilized toplay back the recording and may include, for example, play, forward,rewind and stop.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram illustrating an exemplary communicationsystem 200 that may be utilized for handoff through simulcasting ofmultimedia information, in accordance with a representative embodimentof the present invention. The exemplary communication system 200 of FIG.2 provides handoff through simulcasting for wireless network traffic,for an active subscriber, from a wireless service provider servicing theactive subscriber to a broadband wired and/or a wireless LAN, and/or PANusing a broadband access gateway. Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown afirst location 202, a broadband access provider (BAP) 206, a transportnetwork block 232, an Internet 204, a WANs, PSTN, etc networks block208, a content providers block 210, wireless wide area service providernetworks 212, 214, and a plurality of mobile access devices 222, 224,226, 228 The wireless interface 220, the gateway 218 with modem 216, BAP206, the GSM/EDGE/GPRS network 214, the transport network 232, and theCDMA network 236 of FIG. 2 may correspond, for example, to the wirelessinterface 120, the gateway 118 with modem 116, the BAP 106, theGSM/EDGE/GPRS network 114, the transport network 110, and the CDMAnetwork 112, respectively, of FIG. 1. The illustration of FIG. 2 alsocomprises a central control and management block 248 that maycorrespond, for example, to the central control and management block 148of FIG. 1.

The first location 202 comprises a broadband access gateway 218 with amodem 216, and a wireless interface 220. The first location may be ahome, and the broadband access gateway 218 with the modem 216 and thewireless interface 220 may support a personal area network (PAN) and/orwireless local area network (WLAN), and may be referred to as a homenetwork 202 a. The wireless interface 220 may comprise a plurality ofinterfaces such as a Bluetooth interface, an IEEE 802.15.3aultra-wideband interface, and any combination of IEEE 802.11a, b, gand/or n interfaces. In a representative embodiment of the presentinvention, the gateway 218 may comprise, for example, a set top box thatmay be coupled in a wireless or wired fashion to access devices such as,for example, a laptop computer or television, such as the laptop 217 andthe television 215 of FIG. 2. Service may be provided to the homenetwork 202 a supported by the gateway 218 via the cable modem 216,which is coupled to the broadband access provider 206.

The broadband access provider 206 may be, for example, a cable company,telephone company (Telco), or an Internet service provider (ISP). Thebroadband access provider 206 may utilize any of the standardizedformats such as DOCSIS, digital subscriber line (DSL), or localmultipoint distribution system (LMDS). LMDS utilizes broadband wirelesstechnology to deliver voice, video, data, and/or Internet servicesutilizing licensed or unlicensed spectrum in the frequency range of25-GHz and higher. LMDS utilizes point-to-point or point-to-multipointcommunication to provide broadband services, some of which rely on lineof sight (LOS). LMDS is a fixed wireless solution, and as such, nomobility support is required.

The broadband access provider 206 may be also be a WiMAX or Institute ofElectronic and Electrical Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) 802.16-compliantservice provider. The IEEE 802.16 standard offers a wirelessmetropolitan area network (MAN) air interface which provides networkaccess to buildings via external antennas that receive signals from aremotely located central base station. The signal received at thebuilding may be communicated to a wired network infrastructure such asan IEEE 802.3 compliant communication network or a wireless networkinfrastructure such as an IEEE 802.11a/b/g and/or n-compliant network.In instances where WiMAX is utilized, then antenna 202 b may be utilizedto receive and transmit signals between the broadband access provider206 and the home network 202 a.

The WANs, PSTN, etc networks block 208 may comprise networks such asprivate or public communication networks. For example, the WANs, PSTN,etc networks block 208 may comprise a public switched telephone network(PSTN) and a packet network such as a cellular digital packet data(CDPD) network.

The content providers block 210 may comprise network providers, whichsupply data and/or multimedia content. In a representative embodiment ofthe present invention, the content providers block 210 may comprise oneor more mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). A MVNO is a mobileservice provider that provides mobile services to its subscribers byutilizing the network infrastructure of another company. In this regard,the MVNO enters into an agreement with a network operator to purchasenetwork time such as minutes, which it resells to it owncustomers/subscribers. The MNVO utilizes the purchased time to provide,for example, multimedia content delivery to its subscribers.

The wireless service provider network 212 may, for example, utilizeCDMA, 3G or 4G access technology and may comprise a plurality of cellsites. Cell site 212 a may provide cellular service to mobile accessdevice 228 while the mobile access device 228 is within range of thecell site 212 a. The wireless service provider network 214 may, forexample, utilize the time division multiple access (TDMA) accesstechnology of the GSM standard, and may include enhanced data rates forGSM evolution (EDGE) and/or general packet radio service (GPRS) datacapability. The wireless service provider network 214 may comprise aplurality of cell cites and a wireless carrier central office 214 b, thelatter of which comprises a mobile switching center (MSC) 214 g. Cellsite 214 a may provide cellular service to mobile access device 226while the mobile access device 226 is within range of the cell site 214a.

With reference to FIG. 2, the mobile access device 226 that maycomprise, for example, a mobile multimedia handset may initiate a calldestined for the mobile access device 228. The mobile access device 228may also be a mobile multimedia handset. Once the call is setup andestablished, the mobile access device 226 may be serviced by cell site214 a located in the GSM/EDGE/GPRS network 214, while mobile accessdevice 228 may be serviced by cell site 212 a located in the CDMAnetwork 212. While communication is active between the mobile accessdevices 226 and 228, the mobile access device 226 may enter a region inwhich the reception is poor and as a result, the user of mobile accessdevice 226 may have a desire to record the call so that it may besubsequently replayed. In one representative embodiment of the presentinvention, a soft or hard button may be utilized to activate recordingof the conversation between users of the mobile access devices 226 and228. The recording may be stored on the storage 219. In anotherrepresentative embodiment of the present invention, the recording of thecall communication may be stored on another access device that isaccessible to the gateway 218 such as, for example, the wireless laptop217, or other access devices accessible via the wireless interface 220,the modem 216, or wired access devices in communication with the gateway218. For example, a recording of the call may be stored by the gateway218 on storage 213 that is illustrated as accessible to the gateway 218via the path comprising the modem 216, the broadband access provider206, the transport network 232, and the Internet 204. Although thediscussion of the present invention focuses mainly upon aspects relatedto the recording and playback of voice communication, the presentinvention is not limited to this particular aspect. A variety ofrepresentative embodiments are contemplated, in which various forms ofmultimedia information for a call may be recorded for later playback.Multimedia information may comprise, for example, streaming video,broadcast video, voice, digital data, text, digitized audio, digitizedstill images, digitized video, and digitized music

FIG. 3 illustrates a display 300 showing an exemplary active call screen322 that may be displayed by an access device that may correspond, forexample, to the mobile access device 224 of FIG. 2, in accordance with arepresentative embodiment of the present invention. The display 300 ofFIG. 3 comprises a network indicator 310, a network services indicatorarea 312, a battery life indicator, a time of day indicator, and a dayand date indicator. The network services indicator area 312 of FIG. 3comprises an Internet protocol (IP) phone service icon 315, a printerservice icon 316, a stereo entertainment icon 317, a pay music serviceicon 318, a video entertainment icon 319, and a call recording icon 320showing those services that may be advertised by a broadband accessgateway such as, for example, the gateway 218 of FIG. 2, as beingavailable to an appropriately identified or authorized user of theaccess device. Further information about the advertising of multimediainformation and media-related services by a broadband access gateway maybe found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/021,294, entitled“Method And System For Extended Network Access Services Advertising ViaA Broadband Access Gateway”, filed Dec. 23, 2004, the complete subjectmatter of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, in itsentirety.

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, the active callscreen 322 of FIG. 3 may be displayed, for example, following initiationor reception of a call by an access device such as, for example, themobile access devices 224, 226, 228 of FIG. 2. The active call screen322 shown in FIG. 3 comprises a calling/called number indicator 330, acall time indicator 332, and a call record button 340. A representativeembodiment of the present invention may use an icon such as callrecording icon 320, or a similar graphical or textual messagingmechanism, to notify a user that recording of a call serviced by a widearea network such as, for example, the GSM/EDGE/GPRS network 214, may besupported by a broadband access gateway such as, for example, thebroadband access gateway 218 of FIG. 2. The GSM/EDGE/GPRS network 214 orthe mobile access device 224, for example, may determine that the mobileaccess device 224 being served is associated with a broadband accessgateway capable of call recording. The GSM/EDGE/GPRS network 214 ormobile access device 224, for example, may then cause the mobile accessdevice 224 to present a display such as the display 300 to the user ofthe mobile access device 224. In a representative embodiment of thepresent invention, the call recording icon 320 and the call recordbutton 340 may not appear if the mobile access device 224 has noassociated broadband access gateway. Association of an access devicesuch as, for example, the mobile access device 224, and a broadbandaccess gateway such as, for example, the broadband access gateway 218 ofFIG. 2 may be detected by a wide area network using identificationinformation provided by or available from the mobile access device 224.This identification information may be provided, for example, when theaccess device enters, or while within the coverage area of the wide areanetwork. The identification information may comprise, for example,access device identifiers, network addresses, media access control (MAC)addresses, electronic serial numbers, personal identification numbers(PINs) of users, and digital certificates.

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, the wirelesscarrier central office 214 b of FIG. 2 may be adapted to determinewhether there is sufficient bandwidth and available space to handlerecording of the call at the broadband access gateway 218. If thewireless carrier central office 214 b determines that there isinsufficient bandwidth and/or memory for storing the recordedconversation, then the wireless carrier central office 214 b may send anindication to the mobile access device 226, that initiated therecording.

FIG. 4 illustrates a display 400 showing an exemplary error messagescreen 422 that may be displayed by an access device that maycorrespond, for example, to the mobile access device 224 of FIG. 2, inaccordance with a representative embodiment of the present invention.The display 400 of FIG. 4 comprises a network indicator 410, a networkservices indicator area 412, a battery life indicator, a time of dayindicator, and a day and date indicator. The network services indicatorarea 412 of FIG. 4 comprises an Internet protocol (IP) phone serviceicon 415, a printer service icon 416, a stereo entertainment icon 417, apay music service icon 418, a video entertainment icon 419, and a callrecording icon 420 showing those services that may be advertised by abroadband access gateway such as, for example, the gateway 218 of FIG.2, as being available to an appropriately identified or authorized userof the access device.

A representative embodiment of the present invention may displayinformation such as that presented in FIG. 4 on an access device suchas, for example, one of the mobile access devices 224, 226, 228 of FIG.2 following an attempt to activate call recording following the examplegiven above with respect to FIG. 3. The mobile access device 224, forexample, may display information such as the text 430 informing the userof the mobile access device 224 that the call cannot be recorded, andthe text 432 explaining that no storage for the recording of the call isavailable. Other situations may also arise that prohibit the recordingof call information including, for example, the lack of bandwidth in thepath from the wireless carrier central office 214 b of FIG. 2 to thebroadband access gateway 218, a failure to establish communicationbetween the wireless carrier central office 214 b and the broadbandaccess gateway 218, the fact that the broadband access gateway 218 iscurrently busy, to name only a few.

In an representative embodiment of the present invention, the wirelesscarrier central office 214 b and/or the mobile access device 226 may beadapted to detect when the signal level has fallen below a specifiedthreshold and thereby cause a soft button for recording to be displayedon the mobile access device 226. In the case where there is a hardbutton available, the hard button may be depressed or otherwise enabledin order to activate remote recording at the broadband access gateway218. The hard or soft button may also be utilized to terminate remoterecording of an existing call between the mobile access devices 226 and228. In this regard, the hard or soft button may be depressed in orderto terminate recording of an existing call.

FIG. 5 illustrates a display 500 showing an exemplary warning messagescreen 522 that may be displayed by an access device that maycorrespond, for example, to the mobile access device 224 of FIG. 2, inaccordance with a representative embodiment of the present invention.The display 500 of FIG. 5 comprises a network indicator 510, a networkservices indicator area 512, a battery life indicator, a time of dayindicator, and a day and date indicator. The network services indicatorarea 512 of FIG. 5 comprises an Internet protocol (IP) phone serviceicon 515, a printer service icon 516, a stereo entertainment icon 517, apay music service icon 518, a video entertainment icon 519, and a callrecording icon 520 showing those services that may be advertised by abroadband access gateway such as, for example, the gateway 218 of FIG.2, as being available to an appropriately identified or authorized userof the access device.

An access device such as, for example, the mobile access device 224 ofFIG. 2, that may comprise, for example, a mobile multimedia handset maydisplay information like that presented in FIG. 5, while being served bya wide area network such as, for example the GSM/EDGE/GPRS network 214of FIG. 2. In the illustration of FIG. 5, the state of the networkindicator 510 represents a low signal strength condition that may causea call to be lost. Other conditions of a communication link such as, forexample, interference and noise may also affect the viability of a call.In a representative embodiment of the present invention, one or both ofa wide area network such as, for example, the wireless carrier centraloffice 214 b of the GSM/EDGE/GPRS network 214, and an access device suchas, for example, the mobile access device 224, may determine that poorsignal quality may result in loss of the call. As previously described,an access device such as mobile access device 224, for example, may beassociated with a broadband access gateway, and as a result, the mobileaccess device 224 may display an icon such as the call recording icon520 of FIG. 5, indicating that call recording is available.

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, a user of anaccess device may be notified when conditions exist that may result inloss of a call, and if available may be offered the option of recordingthe call for later playback. In such a situation, the user of the accessdevice may be presented with a visual indication such as the warningmessage screen 522, permitting the user to enable the recording of thecall by the associated broadband access gateway. In the example of FIG.5, the user may be presented with a brief statement of the callsituation such as, for example, the text 530, and may be permitted toenable call recording by clicking on or selecting, for example, a recordbutton 540. In another representative embodiment of the presentinvention, call recording may be enabled by the user for all calls, orfor only those calls that meet certain conditions such as, for example,call impairment (e.g., as above), calls to or from certain parties,calls at certain times of the day, to name only a few examples.Notification to other parties on the call that recording is taking placemay be provided. Once call recording is active, the user of the accessdevice for which recording was initiated may be presented with otheroptions and information such as, for example, the duration of thecurrent recording, and a button (not shown) enabling the user of theaccess device to halt recording. Should the associated broadband accessgateway exhaust available call storage, or should other difficultiesarise, the user may be notified that call recording cannot continue. Insuch a situation, call recording may be automatically de-activated.

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, there may beinstances where a user of an access device such as, for example, themobile access device 224 of FIG. 2 (e.g., a mobile telephone) desires torecord only a portion of an existing call. For example, during anexisting call where the user of, for example, the mobile access device224 is the calling party, the called party may want to give the callingparty a telephone number and/or address. Immediately prior to receivingthe telephone number and/or address, the calling party may activate orinitiate remote recording of the conversation at the first location 202via the associated broadband access gateway 218 by depressing a soft orhard key on the mobile access device 224 such as, for example, the callrecord button 340 of FIG. 3. Once the called party has completeddisclosing the telephone number and/or address, the calling party maydeactivate recording by depressing a similar or the same soft or hardkey on the mobile access device 224. Once the mobile access device 224is within operating range of the wireless interface 220 of theassociated broadband access gateway 218, for example, (i.e., when theuser of mobile access device 224 is at the first location 202), the usermay play back the recording on the mobile access device 224. In variousrepresentative embodiments of the present invention, the user may alsochoose to use another access device such as, for example, a personalcomputer coupled to the broadband access gateway 218, or an accessdevice capable of accessing the broadband access gateway 218 using, forexample, the broadband connection supported by the modem 216 of FIG. 2.In such an arrangement, the user of the mobile access deice 224 mayplayu back the recording while being served by the a wide area networkaccessible via the broadband connection supported by modem 216. This mayenable a user of the mobile access devices 222,224, 226, 228 to accessrecordings while in the coverage areas of the GSM/EDGE/GPRS network 214and the CDMA network 212.

FIG. 6 illustrates a display 600 showing an exemplary recorded callsscreen 622 that may be displayed by an access device that may correspondto, for example, the mobile access device 224 of FIG. 2, in accordancewith a representative embodiment of the present invention. The display600 of FIG. 6 comprises a network indicator 610, a network servicesindicator area 612, a battery life indicator, a time of day indicator,and a day and date indicator. The network services indicator area 612 ofFIG. 6 comprises an Internet protocol (IP) phone service icon 615, aprinter service icon 616, a stereo entertainment icon 617, a pay musicservice icon 618, a video entertainment icon 619, and a call recordingicon 620 showing those services that may be advertised by a broadbandaccess gateway such as, for example, the gateway 218 of FIG. 2, as beingavailable to an appropriately identified or authorized user of theaccess device. In the illustration of FIG. 6, the network indicator 610of the display 600 is shown in a form representing communication with apersonal area network (PAN) or wireless local area network (WLAN) of abroadband access gateway such as, for example, that supported by thewireless interface 220 of the gateway 218, shown in FIG. 2.

The recorded calls screen 622 shown in FIG. 6 also comprises recordedcall entries 630, 632, 634 representing three calls recorded by a userof an access device such as, for example, the mobile access device 224of FIG. 2. The recorded call entries 630, 632, 634 of FIG. 6 eachcontain information indicating whether the recorded call is an incomingor outgoing call, the date and time of the call, the calling or callednumber, and the length of the recording. The user of the mobile accessdevice 224 may, for example, select from one of the listed calls, or mayexit the recorded calls screen 622 by selecting the EXIT button 640.Although described with reference to an access device such as, forexample, a mobile multimedia handset, the information shown in FIG. 6may also be presented via other access devices (e.g., wireless personaldigital assistants, personal computers, and the like) and using otherforms of user interface (e.g., a graphical rather than textualinterface), without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

FIG. 7 is a message exchange or “ping-pong” diagram 700 illustratingexemplary messaging during a call by a user of an access device such as,for example, the mobile access devices 222, 224, 226, 228 of FIG. 2being served via a wide area network such as, for example, theGSM/EDGE/GPRS network 214 of FIG. 2, during which call recording by anassociated broadband access gateway is enabled by the user, inaccordance with a representative embodiment of the present invention. Inthe illustration of FIG. 7, the three vertical lines represent a widearea network 702, an access device 704, and a broadband access gateway706 that may correspond, for example, to the GSM/EDGE/GPRS network 214,the mobile access device 224, and the broadband access gateway 218,respectively, of FIG. 2. The horizontal lines represent message trafficor groups of messages exchanged between a source and a destination, thedestination being indicated by the arrow head. The vertical dimensionrepresents time, advancing downward on the message exchange diagram 700.

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, an accessdevice 704 may initiate or receive a call via the wide area network 702using messaging 710, 712. The messaging 710, 712 may comprise multiplemessages for establishing a wireless call on the wide area network 702.In the illustration of FIG. 7, the wide area network 702 may activate apath to transport multimedia information (e.g., voice signals) 714between the wide area network 702 and the access device 704. At somepoint during the call, the user of the access device 704 may desire torecord the call, and may cause a call recording request message 716 tobe sent to the wide area network 702. Although depicted in FIG. 7 as arequest from the access device 704, in another representative embodimentof the present invention, the recording request message 716 may alsooriginate from within the wide area network 702 when, for example, it isdetected that the call may be lost. The wide area network 702 may thensend an acknowledgement message 718 to the access device 704, and mayalso send a record start message 720 to the broadband access gatewayassociated with the access device 704. The association of the accessdevice 704 and the broadband access gateway 706 may be establishedearlier in the call, for example, when identification information isprovided by the access device 704 to the wide area network 702(messaging not shown), as described above. Upon receiving the recordstart message 720, the broadband access gateway 706 may send anacknowledgement message 722, and may enable recording of callinformation for the call from the wide area network 702. Upon receipt ofthe acknowledgement message 722, the wide area network may beginsimulcasting the multimedia information (e.g., voice signals) 714 of thecall to the broadband access gateway 706 via a second path as multimediainformation (e.g., voice signals) 714 a, which is then stored by thebroadband access gateway 706.

At yet a later point in time, the user of the access device 704 maychoose to end recording of the call, and may cause a recording haltrequest message 726 to be sent to the wide area network 702. The widearea network 702 may respond with an acknowledgement message 728, andmay transmit a stop call recording message 730 to the associatedbroadband access gateway 706. The broadband access gateway 706 may sendan acknowledgement message 732 to the wide area network 702, and maythen cease call recording 733 by terminating the storage of multimediainformation (e.g., voice signals) for the call. Upon receiving theacknowledgement message 732, the wide area network may ceasesimulcasting the multimedia information (e.g., voice signals) 714 a, andmay maintain the path carrying multimedia information (e.g., voicesignals) 714 between the wide area network 702 and the access device704. The call may continue, for example, until the user of the accessdevice 704 causes a call terminate message 736 to be sent to the widearea network 702. The wide area network 702 may then respond with anacknowledgement message 738, ending the call.

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, the accessdevice 704 may later enter into wireless or wired communication with thebroadband access gateway 706, and may send a call playback message 740requesting multimedia information (e.g., voice signals) for the callthat was recorded earlier. The broadband access gateway 706 may send anacknowledgement message 742, and may arrange playback of the requestedcall 743. The broadband access gateway 706 may then activate a path andsend multimedia information (e.g., voice signals) 744 to the accessdevice 704. The access device may later send a stop playback message746, ending playback of the recorded call, and the broadband accessgateway 706 may respond with an acknowledgement message 748.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart 800 of an exemplary method supporting handling ofcalls through simulcasting of multimedia information, in accordance witha representative embodiment of the present invention. The followingdiscussion makes references to the elements of FIG. 2. The method ofFIG. 8 begins with an access device such as, for example, the mobileaccess device 224 in an idle state (i.e., not engaged in a call) (block810). A call initiated or received by the mobile access device 224 isthen established via a wide area network such as, for example, theGSM/EDGE/GPRS network 214 (block 812). The mobile access device 224 maycomprise, for example, a mobile multimedia handset, a wireless personaldigital assistant, or other similar device. During the establishment ofthe call, the wide area network 214 or the mobile access device 224, forexample, may determine whether the mobile access device 224 isassociated with a broadband access gateway such as, for example, thegateway 218 (block 814). This determination may, for example, useidentification information contained within the mobile access device224. Such identification information may comprise, for example, anelectronic serial number, an Internet protocol (IP) address, a digitalcertificate, or other information that may identify a broadband accessgateway associated with the mobile access device 224.

If the access device is not associated with a broadband access gateway,the method of FIG. 8 ends (block 834). If, however, it is determinedthat the mobile access device 224 has an associated broadband accessgateway, the mobile access device 224 may notify the user that callrecording is available (block 816). This notification may take the formof the call recording icon 320 shown in the illustration of FIG. 3, forexample. At some point during the call, the user of the mobile accessdevice 224 may desire to record the information being exchanged. Inanother representative embodiment of the present invention, the widearea network call may experience difficulties, and the user may benotified of the potential loss of the call with a screen such as, forexample, the illustration of FIG. 5. For any of a number of reasons, theuser may choose to activate recording of information exchanged duringthe call. The information to be recorded may comprise multimediainformation such as, for example, streaming video, broadcast video,digitized voice, data, digitized video, still images, or other forms ofdigital media. Based upon a user activation of call recording, thebroadband access gateway 218 may receive, via the broadband network, arequest that call recording be activated (block 818). Upon receiving therequest, the broadband access gateway 218 may determine whether storageis available for call recording (block 820), and may notify the user ofthe mobile access device 224 if there is a lack of storage formultimedia information for the call (block 822), in a manner such asthat shown in FIG. 4, for example. In another representative embodimentof the present invention, a determination may be made whether sufficientnetwork bandwidth is available to support recording of the multimediainformation for the call. If a lack of storage or a lack of bandwidthexists, the method of FIG. 8 then ends (block 834).

If, however, storage is available for the recording of the call (block820), the gateway may send to the access device, via the broadband andwide area networks, an acceptance of the request to record themultimedia information for the call (block 824). The gateway 218 maythen begin receiving, via the broadband network, a stream of multimediainformation for the call carried by the wide area network (block 826).The broadband access gateway 218 may then store the received multimediainformation for the call (block 828). The broadband access gateway 218may, for example, comprise the necessary call storage such as, forexample, the storage 219 of FIG. 2, or may store the multimediainformation for the call using external storage such as, for example,the storage 213 accessible via the Internet 206.

At a later point in the wide area network call, the user of the mobileaccess device 224 may choose to end call recording, and may cause thebroadband access gateway 218 to receive a request to halt recording ofthe multimedia information for the call (block 830). The stream ofmultimedia information received from the wide area network via thebroadband network then ceases. In another representative embodiment ofthe present invention, the request to halt recording may be initiated,automatically, when storage for the call information is exhausted, orbandwidth for transport of call information is no longer available.Following recording of the call, the broadband access gateway may notifythe user of the mobile access device 224 of the availability of therecorded call information (block 832) in a manner such as thatillustrated in FIG. 6, for example. The method of FIG. 8 then ends(block 834).

It should be noted that although the previous discussion makes referenceto functions performed by a wireless carrier central office, othernetwork elements may perform those functions in other arrangements inaccordance with a representative embodiment of the present invention.For example, in an intelligent network (IN) environment, an applicationsprocessor (AP) or other suitable network entity may perform tasks thatare described above as being performed by an wireless carrier centraloffice, without departing from the spirit or scope of the presentinvention. It should also be noted that although the previous discussionfocuses primarily on the capabilities and actions of the broadbandaccess gateways 118, 218 of FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively, the samecapabilities and actions may also apply to the router 130 of FIG. 1.

Aspects of the present invention may be found in a method of handlingcalls in a wide area network using simulcasting of multimediainformation via a broadband access gateway. Such a method may compriseassociating at least one access device with the broadband accessgateway, and receiving from the associated access device via a broadbandnetwork, a request to record multimedia information exchanged during acall via a wide area network. The method may comprise receiving, via thebroadband network, the multimedia information exchanged during the call,and storing the received multimedia information. A method in accordancewith the present invention may also comprise determining whether aresource for recording the multimedia information is available. Themethod may comprise sending, via the broadband network, acceptance ofthe request to record multimedia information, if the resource isavailable. In addition, the method may comprise sending, via thebroadband network, rejection of the request to record multimediainformation, if the resource is not available. In some representativeembodiments of the present invention, the method may comprise receiving,from the associated at least one access device, a request for storedmultimedia information, and sending stored multimedia information to theassociated at least one access device for playback. The method may alsocomprise receiving, via the broadband network, a request to haltrecording of the exchanged multimedia information, and may comprisenotifying the associated at least one access device of available storedmultimedia information.

In various representative embodiments of the present invention, the atleast one access device may comprise at least one of a mobile multimediahandset, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal computer (PC), acomputer peripheral, a digital scanner, a digital camera, a printer,headphones, and a pointing device. The wide area network may comprise atleast one of a cellular digital packet data (CDPD) network, a publicswitched telephone network (PSTN), a Global System for MobileCommunication (GSM) network, and a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)network. The wide area network may also comprise a short message service(SMS) network, a GSM enhanced data rates for global evolution (EDGE)network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, an integrateddigital enhanced network (iDEN), a code division multiple access (CDMA)network, and a CDMA2000 1xTT network. The personal area network maycomprise at least one of a Bluetooth network, an Institute of Electricaland Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 network, an Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.3a network, and acellular network. The broadband network may comprise at least one of acable network, a digital subscriber loop network, a T1 network, a T3network, a local multipoint distribution system (LMDS), a WiMAX network,and an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16network. The multimedia information in various representativeembodiments according to the present invention may comprise at least oneof streaming video, broadcast video, digitized voice, digital data,text, digitized audio, digitized still images, digitized video, anddigitized music, and the resource for recording the multimediainformation may comprise at least one of storage and bandwidth.

Other aspects of the present invention may be seen in a system forhandling calls using simulcasting of multimedia information via abroadband access gateway. A system in accordance with a representativeembodiment of the present invention may comprise at least one accessdevice for communicating multimedia information, and a gatewaycommunicatively coupled to a broadband network and at least one wirelessinterface. The gateway may be capable of selectively exchangingmultimedia information between the at least one wireless interface andthe broadband network, and of communicating with the at least one accessdevice via the at least one wireless interface. The gateway may also becapable of associating at least one access device with the broadbandaccess gateway, and of receiving, via a broadband network, a request torecord multimedia information exchanged during a call via a wide areanetwork. In addition, the gateway may be capable of receiving, via thebroadband network, the multimedia information exchanged during the call,and of storing the received multimedia information.

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, the gateway maybe capable of determining whether a resource for recording themultimedia information is available. The gateway may be capable ofsending, via the broadband network, acceptance of the request to recordmultimedia information, if the resource is available. The gateway mayalso be capable of sending, via the broadband network, rejection of therequest to record multimedia information, if the resource is notavailable. In addition, the gateway may be capable of receiving, fromthe associated at least one access device, a request for storedmultimedia information, and of sending stored multimedia information tothe associated at least one access device for playback. The gateway maybe capable of receiving, via the broadband network, a request to haltrecording of the exchanged multimedia information, and may be capable ofnotifying the associated at least one access device of available storedmultimedia information.

In various representative embodiments of the present invention, themultimedia information may comprise at least one of streaming video,broadcast video, digitized voice, digital data, text, digitized audio,digitized still images, digitized video, and digitized music. Thebroadband network may comprise at least one of a cable network, adigital subscriber loop network, a T1 network, a T3 network, a localmultipoint distribution system (LMDS), a WiMAX network, and an Instituteof Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 network. The atleast one wireless interface in various representative embodiments maycomprise at least one of a Bluetooth network interface, an Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 network interface, anInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.3anetwork, and a cellular network interface. The wide area network maycomprise at least one of a cellular digital packet data (CDPD) network,a public switched telephone network (PSTN), a Global System for MobileCommunication (GSM) network, and a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)network. The wide area network may also comprise a short message service(SMS) network, a GSM enhanced data rates for global evolution (EDGE)network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, an integrateddigital enhanced network (iDEN), a code division multiple access (CDMA)network, and a CDMA2000 1xRTT network.

The gateway in a system in accordance with a representative embodimentof the present invention may be capable of informing the wide areanetwork, via the broadband network, of acceptance of multimediainformation by the associated at least one access device via thepersonal area network. The at least one access device may comprise atleast one of a mobile multimedia handset, a personal digital assistant(PDA), a personal computer (PC), a computer peripheral, a digitalscanner, a digital camera, a printer, headphones, and a pointing device.The multimedia information may be stored within the gateway, and theresource for recording the multimedia information may comprise at leastone of storage and bandwidth.

Yet other aspects of the present invention may be observed in abroadband access gateway apparatus supporting handling of calls usingsimulcasting of multimedia information. The apparatus may comprise atleast one wireless interface supporting communication via a personalarea network, at least one network interface for communication via abroadband network, and at least one processor capable of associating atleast one access device with the broadband access gateway apparatus. Theat least one processor may be communicatively coupled to the at leastone wireless interface and the at least one network interface. The atleast one processor may be capable of receiving, via the broadbandnetwork, multimedia information simultaneously communicated wirelesslyto the associated at least one access device via a wide area network.The at least one processor may also be capable of storing the receivedmultimedia information, and of causing the at least one access device tobe notified of available stored multimedia information. In arepresentative embodiment of the present invention, the at least oneprocessor may be capable of communicating the stored multimediainformation to the associated at least one access device for playback.

In a representative embodiment in accordance with the present invention,the at least one wireless interface may comprise at least one of aBluetooth network interface, an Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers (IEEE) 802.11 network interface, an Institute of Electricaland Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.3a network, and a cellularnetwork interface. The broadband network may comprise at least one of acable network, a digital subscriber loop network, a T1 network, a T3network, a local multipoint distribution system (LMDS), a WiMAX network,and an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16network. In various representative embodiments according to the presentinvention, the at least one access device may comprise at least one of amobile multimedia handset, a personal digital assistant (PDA), apersonal computer (PC), a computer peripheral, a digital scanner, adigital camera, a printer, headphones, and a pointing device. Themultimedia information may comprise at least one of streaming video,broadcast video, digitized voice, digital data, text, digitized audio,digitized still images, digitized video, and digitized music.

The wide area network in various representative embodiments of thepresent invention may comprise at least one of a cellular digital packetdata (CDPD) network, a public switched telephone network (PSTN), aGlobal System for Mobile Communication (GSM) network, and a GeneralPacket Radio Service (GPRS) network. The wide area network may alsocomprise a short message service (SMS) network, a GSM enhanced datarates for global evolution (EDGE) network, a time division multipleaccess (TDMA) network, an integrated digital enhanced network (iDEN), acode division multiple access (CDMA) network, and a CDMA2000 1xRTTnetwork. In addition, in a representative embodiment of the presentinvention, the received multimedia information may be stored within thebroadband access gateway.

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, the wirelesslocal area networks may include data networks such as, for example,Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineer (IEEE) 802.11a/b/g/ncompliant wireless networks such as those located in homes, hot spots oran office. Such local area networks may operate in unlicensed radiofrequency spectrum such as in, for example, the 2.4 and 5 gigahertzregions. Examples of wide area networks may include cellular digitalpacket data (CDPD), voice and data networks such as public switchedtelephone networks (PSTN), Global System For Mobile Communication (GSM),GSM General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), GSM Short Message Service(SMS), GSM Enhanced Data Rates For Global Evolution (EDGE), NorthAmerican Time Division Multiplex Access (TDMA), IDEN, Code DivisionMultiple Access (CDMA) and CDMA2000 1xRT, Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) network, to name only a few.

A personal area network (PAN) may be formed by a plurality of wirelesscommunication access devices such as, for example, mobile multimediahandsets, PDAs, telephones, and computers. Other elements of such anetwork may, for example, include computer peripherals such as digitalscanners, digital cameras, printers, headphones, and pointing devices,that may be located within the immediate proximity of a person. A PANmay be an ad-hoc network of such communication devices. In arepresentative embodiment of the present invention, access deviceswithin the PAN may communicate with other access devices within the PANand also with other access devices that are located in other networksaccessible via the PAN. The personal area networks may include datanetworks such as, for example, a Bluetooth compliant network, andInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineer (IEEE) 802.15.3acompliant wireless networks. Such personal area networks may operate inunlicensed radio frequency spectrum such as, for example, the 2.4 and 5gigahertz regions. Details of one example of a personal area network areprovided in the document “Bluetooth Core Specification V1.2”, Nov. 5,2003, from Bluetooth SIG, Inc., the complete subject matter of which ishereby incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety. For example,in a Bluetooth® wireless PAN, a first Bluetooth®-enabled wireless accessdevice may communicate with a second Bluetooth®-enabled wireless accessdevice within the PAN. Additionally, either of the first and secondBluetooth®-enabled wireless access devices may communicate with theInternet or another LAN or WAN via the Bluetooth® wireless PAN.

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, a gateway maybe adapted to provide seamless and transparent communication between aplurality of access devices and a plurality of networks. Thefunctionality of the gateway may be divided, for example, intoapplication content functionality, and configuration and managementfunctionality. The application content functionality may, for example,deal with the types of applications that may be supported by the gatewayas well as the various types of data that may be received, processedand/or transmitted by the gateway. In this regard, application contentfunctionality may also include the manner in which other devices and/orsystems may utilize data from the gateway.

Content and application services are important because all theinformation coming into and leaving the home from either the WAN side(i.e., the broadband connection side), or from the PAN side (i.e., theaccess device side) converges at the gateway. The PAN side may compriseBluetooth, wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n), IEEE 802.15.3aultra-wideband, or cellular, for example. Notwithstanding, the gatewaymay be adapted to convert, for example, wirelessly receivedGSM-formatted information into, for example, Internet protocol(IP)-formatted information and in reverse, converts IP-formattedinformation into wireless GSM-formatted information suitable forover-the-air transmission. Support for other wireless communicationprotocols such as TDMA, CDMA, and UMTS may also be provided. In arepresentative embodiment of the present invention, the gateway maycomprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or code that may be adapted toreceive and process MPEG related data, which may be suitable for displayon a screen. The gateway in an embodiment of the present inventionfunctions as a focal point where data converges from a plurality ofwired and wireless services. Although, in a particular embodiment of thepresent invention the gateway may do very little in terms of actualcontent aggregation, there is virtual aggregation of data. The convergeddata may be integrated and or otherwise utilized to offer uniqueopportunities for launching various content and application servicesfrom a single strategic location. Since the gateway in an embodiment ofthe present invention is the focal point where data converges, one ormore protocol stacks may be employed for launching the various contentand application services.

The gateway in a representative embodiment of the present invention maybe adapted to route calls based on established rules that may beprogrammed into the gateway. For example, the gateway may be governed bya rule which states that local calls are to be routed to an incumbentlocal exchange carrier (iLEC), while long distance calls are to behandled by Long Distance Carrier Company. Accordingly, when a calloriginates at the gateway and it is determined that the call is a localcall, the gateway may be adapted to route the call to the iLEC. However,if the gateway determines that the call is a long distance call, thenthe gateway may be adapted to route the call to Long Distance CarrierCompany.

A representative embodiment of the present invention may leverageexisting broadband infrastructure that is commonly found in many homesand businesses today. Because a consumer is already paying for the useof the broadband infrastructure in their home or office, leveraging theuse of the existing broadband infrastructure for communication with widearea networks results in minimal or no communication costs. Thebroadband infrastructure may be, for example, a cable or DSLinfrastructure.

The wireless interface function provided by the gateway located within ahome, for example, may be utilized to route or communicate a great dealof traffic to a wired network such as a broadband network or a wirelessnetwork such as a GSM or CDMA network via a broadband connection. Inother words, the wireless gateway infrastructure provided by arepresentative embodiment of the present invention provides a scalablenetwork infrastructure that rides on an existing access infrastructurealready supplied by a broadband service provider to a home, office orbusiness. Additionally, the scalable infrastructure provided by thegateway also solves the problems associated with signal penetration andpropagation, thereby providing improved quality of service (QoS). From amarket perspective, a wireless service provider may now have access tothe necessary infrastructure to provide improved wireless services tousers within a home or office. Accordingly, in order to rapidly increasetheir growth, wireless service providers may now target that portion ofthe in-home landline or plain old telephone system (POTS) business,which have traditionally been handled by incumbent local exchangecarriers (ILECs) or other LECs.

The unlicensed mobile access gateway described above may possess asignificant amount of processing power. The gateways of existing systemsfall short of realizing the full potential of the merged wired andwireless communication network that is enabled by a representativeembodiment of the present invention. Numerous basic and enhancedcommunication services may be enabled or provided by the gateway.Support for access devices such as, for example, mobile multimediahandsets and PDAs may be involved in order to utilize these basic andenhanced communication services enabled by the new wave of digitaltechnologies. Current and/or proposed mobile access gateway systems,however, do not provide the range of support needed for their use by theeveryday consumer.

Accordingly, the present invention may be realized in hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software. The presentinvention may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least onecomputer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elementsare spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind ofcomputer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methodsdescribed herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware andsoftware may be a general-purpose computer system with a computerprogram that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computersystem such that it carries out the methods described herein.

The present invention may also be embedded in a computer programproduct, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation ofthe methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer systemis able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the presentcontext means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of aset of instructions intended to cause a system having an informationprocessing capability to perform a particular function either directlyor after either or both of the following: a) conversion to anotherlanguage, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different materialform.

While the present invention has been described with reference to certainembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. In addition, manymodifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material tothe teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope.Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited tothe particular embodiment disclosed, but that the present invention willinclude all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

1. A method of handling calls in a wide area network using simulcastingof multimedia information via a broadband access gateway, the methodcomprising: associating at least one access device with the broadbandaccess gateway; receiving, at the broadband access gateway from theassociated access device via a broadband network, a request to recordcall information exchanged during a call via a wide area network;determining whether a resource for recording the call information isavailable; sending, via the broadband network, acceptance of the requestto record the call information, if the resource is available; sending,via the broadband network, rejection of the request to record the callinformation, if the resource is not available; receiving, via thebroadband network, the call information exchanged during the call; andstoring the received call information.
 2. The method according to claim1, further comprising: receiving, from the associated at least oneaccess device, a request for stored call information; and sending storedcall information to the associated at least one access device forplayback.
 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:receiving, via the broadband network, a request to halt recording of theexchanged call information.
 4. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising: notifying the associated at least one access device ofavailable stored call information.
 5. The method according to claim 1wherein the wide area network comprises one or more of: a cellulardigital packet data (CDPD) network, a public switched telephone network(PSTN), a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) network, aGeneral Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network, a short message service(SMS) network, a GSM enhanced data rates for global evolution (EDGE)network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, an integrateddigital enhanced network (iDEN), a code division multiple access (CDMA)network, and/or a CDMA2000 1xRTT network.
 6. The method according toclaim 1 wherein the personal area network comprises one or more of: aBluetooth network, an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE) 802.11 network, an Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers (IEEE) 802.15.3a network, and/or a cellular network.
 7. Themethod according to claim 1 wherein the broadband network comprises oneor more of: a cable network, a digital subscriber loop network, a T1network, a T3 network, a local multipoint distribution system (LMDS), aWiMAX network, and/or an Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers (IEEE) 802.16 network.
 8. The method according to claim 1comprising receiving from the associated access device via the broadbandnetwork, an additional request to record multimedia informationexchanged during the call, wherein the multimedia information comprisesone or more of: streaming video, broadcast video, digitized voice,digital data, text, digitized audio, digitized still images, digitizedvideo, and/or digitized music.
 9. The method according to claim 1wherein the resource for recording the call information comprises one orboth of: storage and/or bandwidth.
 10. A system for handling calls usingsimulcasting of multimedia information via a broadband access gateway,the system comprising: at least one access device for communicatingmultimedia information; a gateway communicatively coupled to a broadbandnetwork and at least one wireless interface, the gateway capable ofselectively exchanging multimedia and call information between the atleast one wireless interface and the broadband network, and ofcommunicating with the at least one access device via the at least onewireless interface; the gateway capable of associating at least oneaccess device with the broadband access gateway; the gateway capable ofreceiving at the broadband access gateway from the associated accessdevice via a broadband network, a request to record the call informationexchanged during a call via a wide area network; the gateway capable ofdetermining whether a resource for recording the call information isavailable; the gateway capable of sending, via the broadband network,acceptance of the request to record the call information, if theresource is available; the gateway capable of sending, via the broadbandnetwork, rejection of the request to record the call information, if theresource is not available; the gateway capable of receiving, via thebroadband network, the call information exchanged during the call; andthe gateway capable of storing the received call information.
 11. Thesystem according to claim 10, further comprising: the gateway capable ofreceiving, from the associated at least one access device, a request forstored call information; and the gateway capable of sending stored callinformation to the associated at least one access device for playback.12. The system according to claim 10, further comprising: the gatewaycapable of receiving, via the broadband network, a request to haltrecording of the exchanged call information.
 13. The system according toclaim 10, further comprising: the gateway capable of notifying theassociated at least one access device of available stored callinformation.
 14. The system according to claim 10 comprising receivingfrom the associated access device via the broadband network, anadditional request to record multimedia information exchanged during thecall, wherein the multimedia information comprises one or more of:streaming video, broadcast video, digitized voice, digital data, text,digitized audio, digitized still images, digitized video, and/ordigitized music.
 15. The system according to claim 10 wherein thebroadband network comprises one or more of: a cable network, a digitalsubscriber loop network, a T1 network, a T3 network, a local multipointdistribution system (LMDS), a WiMAX network, and/or an Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 network.
 16. Thesystem according to claim 10 wherein the at least one wireless interfacecomprises one or more of: a Bluetooth network interface, an Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 network interface, anInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.3anetwork, and/or a cellular network interface.
 17. The system accordingto claim 10 wherein the wide area network comprises one or more of: acellular digital packet data (CDPD) network, a public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN), a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) network,a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network, a short message service(SMS) network, a GSM enhanced data rates for global evolution (EDGE)network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, an integrateddigital enhanced network (iDEN), a code division multiple access (CDMA)network, and/or a CDMA2000 1xRTT network.
 18. The system according toclaim 10, further comprising: the gateway capable of informing the widearea network, via the broadband network, of acceptance of allinformation by the associated at least one access device via thepersonal area network.
 19. The system according to claim 10 wherein thecall information is stored within the gateway.
 20. The system accordingto claim 10 wherein the resource for recording the call informationcomprises one or both of: storage and/or bandwidth.
 21. A broadbandaccess gateway apparatus supporting handling of calls using simulcastingof multimedia information, the apparatus comprising: at least onewireless interface supporting communication via a personal area network;at least one network interface for communication via a broadbandnetwork; at least one processor capable of associating at least oneaccess device with the broadband access gateway apparatus, the at leastone processor communicatively coupled to the at least one wirelessinterface and the at least one network interface; the at least oneprocessor capable of receiving at the broadband access gateway via thebroadband network, multimedia and call information simultaneouslycommunicated wirelessly to the associated at least one access device viaa wide area network; and the at least one processor capable of storingthe received multimedia information.
 22. The apparatus according toclaim 21, further comprising: the at least one processor capable ofcausing the at least one access device to be notified of availablestored multimedia information.
 23. The apparatus according to claim 21,further comprising: the at least one processor capable of communicatingthe stored multimedia information to the associated at least one accessdevice for playback.
 24. The apparatus according to claim 21 wherein theat least one wireless interface comprises one or more of: a Bluetoothnetwork interface, an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE) 802.11 network interface, an Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.3a network, and/or a cellularnetwork interface.
 25. The apparatus according to claim 21 wherein thebroadband network comprises one or more of: a cable network, a digitalsubscriber loop network, a T1 network, a T3 network, a local multipointdistribution system (LMDS), a WiMAX network, and/or an Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 network.
 26. Theapparatus according to claim 21 wherein the at least one access devicecomprises one or more of: a mobile multimedia handset, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a personal computer (PC), a computerperipheral, a digital scanner, a digital camera, a printer, headphones,and/or a pointing device.
 27. The apparatus according to claim 21wherein the multimedia information comprises one or more of: streamingvideo, broadcast video, digitized voice, digital data, text, digitizedaudio, digitized still images, digitized video, and/or digitized music.28. The apparatus according to claim 21 wherein the wide area networkcomprises one or more of: a cellular digital packet data (CDPD) network,a public switched telephone network (PSTN), a Global System for MobileCommunication (GSM) network, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)network, a short message service (SMS) network, a GSM enhanced datarates for global evolution (EDGE) network, a time division multipleaccess (TDMA) network, an integrated digital enhanced network (iDEN), acode division multiple access (CDMA) network, and/or a CDMA2000 1xRTTnetwork.
 29. The apparatus according to claim 21 wherein the receivedmultimedia information is stored within the broadband access gateway.30. The method according to claim 1, wherein said determining whether aresource for recording the call information is available comprisesdetermining whether all resources for recording the call information areavailable.
 31. The system according to claim 10, wherein the gateway iscapable of determining whether all resources for recording the callinformation are available.